An outside investigation into a Kalama High School English course’s use of a graphic novel containing sexual content found no evidence of a political or personal agenda, but concluded that the district’s review process for curriculum materials needs clarification.
The Kalama School Board will host community listening sessions on the report and the curriculum review process Tuesday to Jan. 23, Superintendent Wesley Benjamin announced in a letter to the community Monday.
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What happened?
Students in English 170 — a College in the High School class offered at Kalama High School through a partnership with Eastern Washington University — were assigned the 2006 graphic novel “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomedy” by Alison Bechdel.
College in the High School is a program that allows high school students to earn college credits through partnerships between Kalama School District and local colleges. The classes are taught by Kalama teachers using material provided by the partner schools.
“Fun Home” is a memoir about Bechdel’s childhood that touches on issues such as sexuality, mental health and dysfunctional family relationships. Time Magazine listed it as the best read of 2006, and it was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist the same year.
A junior in the class took a picture of a sex scene featured in the book and sent it to her mother, who posted it on a Kalama Facebook group on Dec. 20, complaining that it was “pornography” and not appropriate for a high school class.
In response, the district instructed students to return their copies of the book, placed the teacher who assigned it on administrative leave and hired an outside investigator to review the incident. The school has not released the name of the teacher. School officials also declined to say whether the teacher still works for the district, due to legal concerns.
Report findings
Timothy Yeomans, owner of Quartermaster Consulting, interviewed students, parents, Kalama staff and the associate director of the Eastern Washington University College in the High School program. In a report dated to Sunday, he concluded that most of the error was a result of staff, including the teacher who assigned the book, not understanding the review process for new material.
The teacher who assigned the book told Yeomans she believed the approval process had already taken place at the university, according to the report. She said she had read reviews of the book and was excited to teach it as a coming-of-age story, but did not have time to read it herself before it was handed out to students.
According to district policy, core instructional materials should be reviewed by a committee and approved by the school board before they can be used. Supplemental materials, like books, don’t have to follow the same process, but staff are expected to thoroughly preview them before using them.
The review process has been inconsistent since the 2016-2017 school year, according to the report. Staff and administrators were especially uncertain of how to apply it to College in the High School materials, and in some cases incorrectly left it up to the universities.
Yeomans did not find reports of issues with other College in the High School class materials, although he noted that does not mean all of them were properly approved.
Nine of the 10 students interviewed for the report said they felt the teacher who assigned “Fun Home” handled sensitive topics respectfully and did not push any specific agenda. One student and their parents disagreed. The students and parents were also not named in the report.
Over half of the students said they were made aware that controversial topics might be covered in the course. Three students said they were not, and one student “was adamant that they did not expect any topics or discussions that would be controversial,” according to the report.
Moving forward
The district is currently working on reviewing all the books it has purchased to ensure that they align with state and local standards, Benjamin wrote in the letter. It will also reconvene the Instructional Materials Committee, which is responsible for reviewing core class materials, and offer more clarification about the review process in general.
Going forward, the district will also implement a formal orientation process for College in the High School classes outlining course expectations and making it clear that students might encounter challenging or controversial material.
Benjamin wrote that the district will reassess its relationship with college partners when it comes to future College in the High School classes.
Minka Atkinson is a news reporter for The Daily News covering education, health and social services in Cowlitz County.
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